Rationale:This lesson targets the long vowel
correspondence a_e=/A/. In order to
read proficiently, children must understand that letters make different sounds
when they are used in different spellings. In this lesson students will learn to
recognize the a_e=/A/ correspondence,
and will also learn to spell and read words using this correspondence. They will
learn will learn a meaningful representation of the sound (Fonzie saying “aaayyy”
with thumbs up), spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox
lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the
a_e=A correspondence.

1. Some words have tricky spellings, and that these tricky spellings make
letters say different sounds than they normally do. In order to become expert
readers we need to make sure we know when a word is being tricky so we know
which sound to make! We have already learned to read short vowel words with
a, like
hat and
cat, so today we are going to learn
about long A and the silent e that
tells us that the A is saying its name, /A/. When I say /A/ I want you to think
of Fonzie saying “aaayyyy” and giving a thumbs up! (show image of Fonzie giving
a thumbs up and have the child give a thumbs up and say “aaaayyyy!”)

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /A/, we need to listen for it in
some words. When I listen for /A/ in words, I hear a say its name /A/. When I
make this sound, my lips look almost like I’m smiling but my mouth is opened a
little wider and my tongue touches the back of my bottom teeth. Watch my lips
when I say the word “cake.” Did you see my mouth make the /A/ movement? Now
let’s see if the long A sound is in “Coke.” Did you hear the A say its name? Did
you see my lips make the /A/ movement? (no) That’s because Coke doesn’t have a
long A! Now you try. If you hear the /A/ sound, say “Aaayyy!” and give me a
thumbs up. If you don’t hear the /A/ sound, give me a thumbs down. Is it in
date, bat, lake, look, shake?

3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of the /A/ that we’ll learn today. One
way to spell /A/ is with the letter a
and a signal letter e at the end of
the word to tell me that the A is saying its name. [I will write
a_e on the board.] This blank line is
where a consonant would go, between the a
and the e. Let’s add a letter where
the blank is and read the new word with the /A/ vowel sound. [write the word
“ate.”] Here’s the signal e and it
tells me to have the a say its name
/A/, which makes the word say ate
instead of saying at. Now I’m going
to show you how I would spell ate in
a letterbox. First I’m going to count how many phonemes are in the word
ate. /A/ /t/, that’s two. I’ll need
two letterboxes. A goes in the first box, T goes in the second box, and E goes
on the outside because we can’t hear it. Now you all try spelling
ate in your own letterboxes. I will
walk around the room to check your work.

4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll need
three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound so you know
which letter goes in the first box. Then listen for the /A/ and don’t forget
that the silent e goes outside the
box because you can’t hear it. The word is
game. I went to a football game last
night. [give students time to spell the word] Now watch how I spell the word in
my letterbox on the board: g – a- m- e. Did you spell it the same way I did? Try
another word with three boxes: late.
Don’t be late to class! [Have a volunteer show how to spell the new word on the
letterbox on the board] Now listen to see if the next word has /A/ in it before
you spell it: gap. Did you need a
silent e? Why not? Right, because we
don’t hear a say its name. [volunteer
will spell gone on the board letterboxes.] The next word will be 4 phonemes:
place. [have child model on board
letterboxes] Now I’m going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. [display
poster with words and have children read words in unison. Then call on
individual students to read words on the list until all students have done so.]

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. [Have children
read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the
list until everyone has had a turn.]

6. Say: You’ve done a great job and reading words with our new spelling for /A/:
a_e. Now we are going to read a book
called The Race for the Cake. After a long day of swimming Ben and Jess
can’t wait to eat the cake that Mom just baked! They race to be the first one to
get some cake, but the story takes a surprising twist when a new character joins
the race! Read to see who gets to the cake first! [Children pair up and take
turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room
monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Race
to the Cake aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the
plot.]

7. Say: Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /A/ =
a_e, I want to see how much you’ve
learned. This worksheet has lots of words and pictures. Some of the words may
have the /A/ sound, but some may not. Some of the pictures may be of things with
the /A/ sound, like a picture of a whale, but other pictures may not be of a
thing with the /A/ sound. Your job is to cut out the words and pictures, and
then put them in one group if it has the /A/ sound, and in another group if it
doesn’t have the /A/ sound. When you think all of your words and pictures are in
the right place, raise your hand for me to check your work. After I have checked
your work you may glue down your words and pictures to your paper.